DAYS/PSSNS: When/Why did you start hating JER?

[psychofan]

Well, there seems to be a lot of JER hate around here (and everywhere). There's only a handful of fans left (me, RionPassions, JSF, R!ck I believe). So, my question for all of you JER haters out there is when and why did you start hating him?

Now, I've never hated him, in fact he's my favorite soap writer ever. There was a time when I was disapointed in him. First, was when he wrote off Jan, my favorite character in DAYS history. But in time, I came to understand that it needed to be done and that he had every intention of bringing her back. And if it had not been for JER being fired, I'm sure that we would have her on our screens now. I can't believe how close I came to seeing her again!! The second time was the whole Alex North saga. It was interesting at first, and I even liked it through some of the Lois Banks stuff...but after a few months, I got bored with it. But obviously JER knew that he made a mistake and he ended the story.

On PSSNS, I really don't think he's made any mistakes (yes, I know I'll get bashed for that). Sure, I haven't enjoyed everything, but no one will ever enjoy everything on any soap.

So....come and share your story.

[Roman]

The very first time he was on, even though he was a better writer then that he is now. His characters were always one dimensional, they served his plots instead of the plots being character driven, the good people werestupid while the bad people had all of the sense, and it took WAAAAAYYYYY too long for his stories to end. There wuld be a great week or two when things hit the fan, but other than that, it was false reveals, people talking to themselves, and the shock and awe stories that he wrote are still something that Days is fighting uphill against, IMO.

Just never have likedhim. Period.

[PhoenixRising05]

I was a big JER supporter until recently. Loved his first run at Days and Passions was can't miss from 1999-2001, ok from 2002-2003, and fantastic from 2004-mid 2005. I enjoyed the beginning part of his second run at Days but it fell flat once it reached the island (I know Corday probably interfered there but I digress.

When did I start hating him...it was slow the way it happened. When Passions started focusing on rape and sexual abuse and so on, I started losing my love for him. Everything went from shock and amazing with purpose to just shock and awe and JER seeing what he could do next to trump himself without any regard to story. It was no longer about the story with JER...it was just about cheap shocks and thrills, some of which were disgusting and appalling. At Days, it was all triangles and quads and there was nothing in between the beginning and climaxes of the stores to make you excited. It was just a bunch of lame gimmicks without any character-driven direction. JER's first run at Days had moments where the characters motivations were at least clear. This time we had characters regressing and acting like pods and so on. It was a boring mess, just like Passions became last year. It has had it's moments sicne mid 2005 but it was never consistent again. I am seeing signs of improvement right now on Passions but it's too late.

I still think JER can write and write well when he doesn't ignore history and trash characters left and right. it's all fine and good to write shock and awe stories but there has to be follow through and it can't be at the expense of the characters. There also has to be logical and amazing twists and turns between the beginning and end of a story, especially with the way JER likes to drag things. That is what made his first Days run great and his early Passions stuff great.

I don't know what happened to him but he just isn't the same. I don't even have hope he can be that way again. I think he can still write ok but not as great as he once did. I think his problem is he feels tempted to top himself but it's hard considering so much has been done and he has done so much so there isn't much left, which leads him to pull out some things that are so appalling they drive people away. I think that is why he started in with all the rape and so on. He honestly was having trouble coming up with big shockers. His best shocker of late has been the he/she stalker and even that has major sexual/mysoginistic overtones.

[King]

I remember it vividly.

For PSNS, I started hating it/him in the Fall of 2003. After Charlie was revealed as Alistair...that was like the last thing I really liked/quasi-liked. There were a few times here and there after that, that be dazzled me. But that's when I figured out PSNS was destined for cancellation.

On DAYS, it was IRAQ...so, Spring of 05...and the Jack/Marlena/Vic/Cassie "dying" while escaping Melaswen. I legitimately could not believe that. Then, when I realized he had ruined DAYS and that he had already ruined PSNS years ago, it all kind of snow balled and led to one big hate fest.

Still love pre-2003 JER. And his 2004 DAYS.

[Mason]

Oh, this is easy.

DAYS - Practically as soon as he returned with the Salem Stalker storyline (2003).

PASSIONS - Sheridan on the island/her amnesia (2002)

[billyjill]

Ditto, every word of it. I understand he did some things well and understood certain basic soap logics about reveals and events and such, but so much day to day stuff was those false reveals, inane conversations, and plot-driven over character-driven interactions ... it was never my thing. I can look at it and analytically acknowledge some things that went well but I just never was into it, I found that it operated on a very thin level of storytelling: basically withholds and reveals -- with some dressing, to be sure, but nothing I could sink my teeth into. JMO.

[Dr. Chip]

I forgave him for screwing around with Stefano and Tony's history. I forgave him for the bizarre Vivian/Kate embryo theft. I forgave him for Marlena's possession when he refused to let it end. I forgave him for the one-way cell-phone conversations and monologues and flashbacks that dominated episodes. I forgave the man for a lot of things, because he really did awesome things (Stefano/Tony/Kristen, Maison Blanche, Possession, Susan/Kristen, Laura Horton's return, etc.).

But I could not forgive him when he murdered Maggie Horton the way he did. And I went looking for the guy after he had Alice Horton suffocate on a homemade doughnut. :-)

[xDaysAddict]

I really started hating JERk and being anti-Days when they brought Jack back.after 2 months of escaping,to a fake Jennifer.it was lame,cruel,and they promoted it like the real thing.I wasnt a fan of his writing at all,but this was the last straw.

[bellcurve]

PASSIONS's third month on the air.

I was like, "This show is totally headed in a bad direction and the storylines will never be resolved."

And I was right.

[KMan101]

Phoenix summed it up for me but I'll add my own ...

I loved PASSIONS from 1999 until 2001 and then again in 2003 (some of it), and 2004 - mid 2005.

Reilly's DAYS were what got me hooked on DAYS. I started hating Reilly REALLY hating him around the end of the Castle story when it became clear he would really drag everything out. He got really sloppy and basically pulled anything and everything out of his butt in order to draw attention to the show instead of just writing sordid triangles and stories like he did in 1994-1997.

[Matt]

As soon as he had Marlena possessed by the devil, I was done. I actually kinda liked him up until that point.

[psychofan]

But considering Maggie and Alice are alive, do you still hate him for that?

[sungrey]

As usual, Hogan hits it right on the nose.

I was not the biggest fan of JER's first go-round with Days, even though some of his stories had some spark to them like Aremid, Hope/Gina, etc. And we've been over whether the possession story belonged on Days a million times.

It was when he left and devoted his energy to Passions that the red flags started popping up. Passions got really bogged down for a couple years there before NBC brought JER back to Days... when the announcement was made, my first reaction was "Oh God... this is the end".

Then he unleashes a story that never should have been done or tried, the infamous Salem Stalker plotline. While people at the time argued it was compelling drama, a few voices were yelling "look what it's doing to the show!!!" There was some real damage being done to Days at the time.

Whatever was supposed to happen, rewrite or no rewrite, Marlena being killed or not, by the time the island and the castle story were playing out I was steaming. Then the infamous "Faux Jennifer" episode... when that aired, I immediately e-mailed NBC and said "you have to be joking". From that moment on I detested Reilly and still do.

Daytime will be a better place without him come September.

[King]

Yeah, the whole Castle thing was when I realized JER was truly the laziest and most uninspired writer in the history of soaps.

[DaysFanJean]

I missed out on seeing a lot of JER so cannot say I was particularly a fan or even that I ever hated him. When I began watching in August 2004, it was the middle of Melaswen and I am one of the few who thoroughly enjoyed that story. It actually did have an ending but that is the only one as the rest of his stories seemed to evaporate without any sort of closure. That was what irked me. Then the ever changing Dr. North story which should be called the "Chameleon" ended in that cliffhanger. Will he ever return and will the mentioned child ever be a part of Days? Then the constantly repeating of lines and characters talking to themselves, etc. were dreadful. I think I liked his stories but didn't care for the sawdust LOL.